Jill reviews it: Wen Hair Care – Week #3

Note: In July 2013, I began reviewing Wen with week-by-week updates for my blog readers. Here are quick links to my reviews & updates:
Wen Week #1 | Wen Week #2 | Wen Week #3 | Wen Weeks #4 and #5 | Wen 6-month update | Wen 1-year update
At present, I continue to use Wen regularly./center>I’ve been reviewing the Wen Hair Care system Summer Mango Coconut 30-day starter kit, which I paid $29.95 for. Wen is a cleansing conditioner system that cleans your hair without shampoo and promises softer, shinier hair.Miss my previous weeks’ writeups? Here’s Wen Week #1 and Wen Week #2.

---

I’ve wrapped up my third week of washing my hair with Wen. Technically, I have not shampooed my hair in over three weeks now, and while that “sounds” awful, I don’t think my hair has ever looked better. It’s shiny, soft, clean and has lots of body. It’s not greasy or oily at all, though I think the Wen does coat my hair somewhat to give it this healthy shine and softness. It also still doesn’t frizz in the heat or humidity. All good things, yes?

One thing that is hard to capture in photos is just how shiny my hair is. I feel like I’m saying “shine” and “shiny” a lot in these writeups, but there’s really no other way to say it. Here’s a photo in our bathroom, which I took right after washing and drying my hair:

And then I went outside in the sun to take another:

We spent a lot of time at the pool last week, as it was really warm here (and it’s summer!). Complete strangers were complimenting me on my hair – mostly women who wanted to know where I was getting it colored. The sad thing is that I haven’t colored in about seven weeks… I’m almost due to! (Plus, I use temporary haircolor anyway, which you likely already knew. With this being the seven-week mark, there’s likely not much bottle-color left here!) But it’s got that nice, bright shine that you associate with newly-colored hair.

Speaking of swimming, I washed my hair almost every day this week as I like to get the chlorine out. If we hadn’t been swimming, I would likely have waited longer between washings. After a whole day at the pool, this is what my hair looked like, pre-wash. Usually, letting pool-water-hair dry in the sun would equal a wild, frizzy mess, but my hair actually wasn’t too bad afterward:

I was pretty pleased that washing my hair every day did not dry it out – usually, two days in a row of shampooing would leave my hair feeling like straw. It felt soft and nice every time I got out of the shower.

Another plus I noticed this week? Getting your hair wet in the pool releases the smell of the Wen again. I smelled mango-coconutty all day long!

Of course, more frequent hair washing meant my already-dwindling supply of Wen was being used up at an alarming rate. I have about a half-inch of Wen left today, which won’t pump out of the bottle. Their documentation suggests running a little water into the bottle and swishing it around to use up the last of it.

And, because I’m on the Wen subscription plan (which is what happens when you order online directly from Wen) I am due to get a new, “3 month” supply (3 bottles) again on July 19th. My one-month supply barely lasted me three weeks.

So… it became decision time. Should I break up with Wen? I mulled this over last week. I was still loving my hair and loving the product. However, I wasn’t loving the price — especially when one bottle wasn’t even going to get me through one month. So, reluctantly, I called to cancel. The Wen representative on the phone asked why I wanted to cancel, and I said that I really liked the product, but I have long hair and one bottle did not even last one month for me.

The representative said that they had a special offer for me (of course they did..! I felt like I was watching the infomercial again!) She said that for people with long hair, they recommend getting four bottles in each 3-month shipment instead of three bottles, and that 1 1/3rd bottles should last me 30 days. Judging from what I have left in my bottle, I would guess that to be a fair assessment.

Then, the surprise. Remember that the monthly cost of Wen is $29.95 per 16-ounce bottle. She quoted me a price of $71.80 for my now-four-bottles quarterly shipment. $71.80 for four bottles is $17.95 per bottle! There is an $8.99 shipping and handling fee for each quarterly shipment, so my total with shipping is $80.79, or about $20.20 per bottle with shipping figured in.

For those wondering if this was a special offer just “for me” as I previously had a Wen banner on my blog, I’m pretty certain that it was not. I called the general customer service line and gave some information from my account subscription, asking to cancel, and the account rep offered this new “deal” to me. I choose my web banners from marketing sites that conglomerate offers from a variety of companies, and I post things that I like or think you guys might be interested in. That’s where I first spotted the Wen $29.95 one-month summer offer. Ironically, I have had to take the banner down now, as just this afternoon, Wen asked that their banner “not be run on coupon/frugal blogs.” O-kay. And down came the Wen banner. Sadly, this kind of thing is happening more often lately to frugal bloggers, but I digress…

So… I already decided Wen was not worth $30 per month to me. But was it worth $20?

I said yes. I’m still feeling a little guilty about it. But $20/month, knowing I will have enough Wen to actually last one month, seemed like it was worth continuing a little longer. I do realize how much (regular) shampoo that money would get me, but I am loving my hair. And, as I’ve previously confessed, other than my sugar-Coke habit, I don’t really do much that is just “for me.” At least for the rest of the summer, this is something I’d like to do for me.

But now that I know this? If you ordered Wen online too, and it comes time to cancel or adjust your subscription? There’s apparently some wiggle room in what you’ll pay! The rep on the phone also confirmed this would be a permanent price for me – it won’t change as long as I decide to continue with Wen. She also explained my options for different formulas/scents of Wen. As I am on the “seasonal” Wen, my next three four bottles of Wen will also be the Mango Coconut, which I really like. My fall shipment for October will be a pumpkin spice scent, and then in January it will be vanilla mint. Next Spring, gardenia green tea, and so on. If I don’t like the idea of receiving any of those, I can call and change formula scents just for one order, or for always. (“Regular” Wen scents are Sweet Almond Mint, Cucumber Aloe, Fig, Lavender, Tea Tree and Pomegranate.)

I’ve got one more week to write for you in my 30-day Wen review, so I’ll have that for you next Monday.

---

I have had more reader questions and tips about Wen since last week, so I will answer those here:

You said it takes your hair longer to dry. How long? My usual routine is to let my hair air-dry about 90% of the way, and then blow dry it with a round brush on low heat to straighten it out and give the roots some lift. Here’s a photo I took 45 minutes after my shower. Yes, it’s still this wet:

As I wrote last week, my hair definitely takes significantly longer to dry after washing it with Wen than it used to with regular shampoo. If you are time-crunched in getting your hair done, this may not be the best product for you..! Yesterday, I washed my hair and then had to go out. It was the first time I blow-dried it from a completely wet state and it took about 35 minutes to get it dry. Whatever humectants are in Wen, my hair is reluctant to let them go. Here’s a photo after I finished blowdrying my hair that day:

(Incidentally, this is the only photo I’ve taken with makeup on since I started this review series for you, as I was getting ready to go out! It’s also the first one that my son photobombed.)

Is your haircolor lasting longer with Wen? Some reviews state that haircolor doesn’t wash out as fast with Wen as it does with regular shampoo. I need to color my hair again this week, so I can’t really give a full opinion on this as I colored seven weeks ago, then used regular shampoo for four weeks. But now that I’m going to keep using Wen for a while, I can update you later once I’ve gone through a full 8-week color cycle with Wen. The temporary haircolor I use usually lasts about 8 weeks.

Have you tried any of the other products in the kit yet? As I am close to running out of Wen, this week I used some of the Wen anti-frizz product as a leave-in instead of an extra pump of Wen. It is a shiny clear gel that went in my hair easily without feeling too greasy. It was nice, but I didn’t notice it doing anything extra-special for me. My hair is already pretty happy after being washed with the Wen cleansing conditioner.

This week, I also used the Wen SixThirteen deep conditioner for the first time. According to the directions, you can use 3-4 pumps of this in with your second wash-through of regular Wen, or you can use it as a hair mask. I used four pumps on my second wash-through of Wen (trying to make my Wen last longer!) and it’s very, very thick. It’s almost like a super-Wen. It has a rosemary smell which is just “okay” with me. My hair was nice and soft afterward, but again, I don’t think it was that much of a difference versus just using regular Wen. I have read some reviews of the SixThirteen online (no, I have no idea what the product name means) and people with very damaged hair seem to really like it.

I have not used the refresher spray from the kit yet. Incredibly, when I wake up, my hair looks pretty good. I am able to run a comb through it and go! The lack of bed-head has been a pretty fun side effect. My “old” hair would be kind of tangly after waking up. That’s not the case with the Wen.

Have you experienced any hair breakage/loss? Thankfully, the answer is still no, or I wouldn’t continue to use it. (Some Wen reviewers have noticed shedding/breakage after using Wen. I haven’t.)

Has your hair ever been really, really dirty or filled with product before using Wen? Not really. I used to use quite a few products to tame my hair before starting Wen (I have had a bunch of products that I’ve used off and on, depending on how wild my hair had been) but I’m not using any of them now. I did use some hairspray this week to style my hair before going out on a date with my husband. That was it. I honestly can’t attest to how clean Wen would get hair after a bout of mud wrestling or something really “dirty!”

---

Other places to buy Wen

Several readers have suggested other places to buy Wen other than directly from Wen’s website – especially if you want to avoid getting on their auto-ship plan (although, with my new price, I really can’t complain about that..!):

Sephora:
Reader Kweento notes that Sephora stores that are not located inside JC Penney stores carry 16-ounce bottles of Wen for $32. You can also buy Wen online from Sephora. They carry the “regular” scents, not the seasonal ones. Does Sephora ever offer coupons? If they do, this could be one to watch.

QVC:
Several readers have suggested buying Wen from QVC. QVC does have various promos on Wen. Right now they are selling the 16-ounce bottles for $29 each. They also have 32-ounce bottles for $49.50. Shipping is an additional $7.22. During the month of June each year, QVC sells gallon jugs of Wen for $177. This is like getting eight 16-ounce bottles for about $22.13 each, not including shipping.

Amazon:
Reader MomOfBoys suggests buying Wen on Amazon. Keep in mind that according to what I read online this week, Wen’s only “authorized” places to purchase Wen are from its own website, on QVC, at Sephora, and from Wen creator Chaz Dean’s own website. (His site sells 16-ounce regular-scent bottles for $32, seasonal scent 16oz. bottles for $40, and regular-scent gallons for $210.) I read a post on another blog about someone buying from Amazon and getting a Wen bottle filled with something that wasn’t Wen..! Something to be aware of, as with the Amazon Wen, you’re buying from a third party, like buying from Ebay.

Did you know there are different formulas of Wen?

I learned more about that just this week! The Wen you get from Wen’s website is slightly different than the Wen you get at Sephora, which is also slightly different from the Wen you get from QVC or Chaz Dean’s salon site. Even if they’re the same scent, they have a couple ingredients that are different here and there. Wen’s site states this is due to the fact that web-Wen ships internationally and some ingredients are changed due to international regulations.

Because I’m an ingredients geek, I looked up the ingredients lists to see how different they are. I’m noting any differences in red italics. Here’s the list from my Mango Coconut cleansing conditioner, ordered from Wen directly:

Water, Aloe Vera Leaf Juice, Cetearyl Alcohol, Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Cetyl Alcohol, Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Mango Seed Butter, Soybean Germ Extract, Coconut Extract, Pineapple Fruit Juice, Rosemary Leaf Extract, Wild Cherry Fruit Extract, Goji Berry Fruit Extract, Acai Fruit Extract, White Tea Leaf Extract, Pomelo Grapefruit Seed Oil, Pomegranate Extract, Banana Fruit Extract, Green Tea Extract, Chamomile Flower/Leaf Extract, Marigold Flower Extract, Menthol, Panthenol (Pro-Vitamin B5), Arginine (L-Arginine), Glycine, Alanine (L-Alanine), Aspartic Acid (L-Aspartic Acid), Serine (L-Serine), Valine (L-Valine), Proline (L-Proline), Threonine (L-Threonine), Isoleucine (L-Isoleucine), Phenylalanine (L-Phenylaline), Histidine (L-Histidine), Soluble Collagen, Palmitoyl Oligopeptide, Palmitoyl, Tetrapeptide-7, Amodimethicone, Polysorbate-60, Glycerin, Sodium PCA, Sodium Lactate, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, PCA, Hydrolyzed Rice Protein, Carbomer, Polysorbate-20 (Plant Derived), Tetrasodium EDTA, Citric Acid, Fragrance, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone.

Mango Coconut cleansing conditioner from QVC:

Water, Aloe Vera Leaf Juice, Cetearyl Alcohol (Plant Derived), Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Cetyl Alcohol (Plant Derived), Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Mango Seed Butter, Soybean Germ Extract, Coconut Extract, Pineapple Fruit Juice, Rosemary Leaf Extract, Wild Cherry Fruit Extract, Goji Berry Fruit Extract, Acai Fruit Extract, White Tea Leaf Extract, Pomegranate Extract, Banana Fruit Extract, Green Tea Extract, Chamomile Flower/Leaf Extract, Marigold Flower Extract, Menthol, Panthenol (Pro-Vitamin B5), Arginine (L-Arginine), Glycine (Naturally Derived), Alanine (L-Alanine), Aspartic Acid (L-Aspartic Acid), Serine (L-Serine), Valine (L-Valine), Proline (L-Proline), Threonine (L-Threonine), Isoleucine (L-Isoleucine), Phenylalanine (L-Phenylaline) Histidine (L-Histidine), Soluble Collagen (Marine Kelp), Palmitoyl Oligopeptide, Palmitoyl, Tetrapeptide-7, Amodimethicone, Polysorbate-60 (Plant Derived), Glycerin (Plant Derived), Sodium PCA, Sodium Lactate, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, PCA, Hydrolyzed Rice Protein, Carbomer, Polysorbate-20 (Plant Derived), Tetrasodium EDTA, Citric Acid (Naturally Derived), Fragrance, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone.

Mango Coconut cleansing conditioner from Chaz Dean:

Water, Aloe Vera Leaf Juice, Cetearyl Alcohol (Plant Derived), Behentrimonium Methosulfate Cetyl Alcohol (Plant Derived), Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Mango Seed Butter, Soybean Germ Extract, Coconut Extract, Organic Pineapple Fruit Juice, Rosemary Leaf Extract, Wild Cherry Fruit Extract, Goji Berry Fruit Extract, Acai Fruit Extract, White Tea Leaf Extract, Pomegranate Extract, Banana Fruit Extract, Green Tea Extract, Chamomile Flower/Leaf Extract, Marigold Flower Extract, Menthol, Panthenol (Pro-Vitamin B5), Arginine (L-Arginine), Glycine (Naturally Derived) Alanine (L-Alanine), Aspartic Acid (L-Aspartic Acid), Serine (L-Serine), Valine (L-Valine), Proline (L-Proline), Threonine (L-Threonine), Isoleucine (L-Isoleucine), Phenylalanine (L-Phenylaline) Histidine (L-Histidine), Soluble Collagen (Marine Kelp), Palmitoyl Oligopeptide, Palmitoyl, Tetrapeptide-7, Amodimethicone, Polysorbate-60 (Plant Derived), Glycerin (Plant Derived), Sodium PCA, Sodium Lactate, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, PCA, Hydrolyzed Rice Protein, Carbomer, Polysorbate-20 (Plant Derived), Tetrasodium EDTA, Citric Acid (Naturally Derived), Fragrance, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone

Sephora doesn’t carry the seasonal Mango Coconut scent so I can’t compare with them, but these are pretty minimal differences. Of the three, my version has an ingredient the other two don’t, Pomelo Grapefruit Seed Oil. The other two have plant and naturally-derived versions of some of the ingredients, and the Chaz Dean salon version has organic pineapple juice instead of non-organic. I’ve had great results with the web version, and this minor difference in ingredients doesn’t matter much to me at all – especially with the new, better price I’m going to be buying my Wen for.

Continue to Wen Hair Care – Weeks #4 and #5

---

FCC Disclaimer: I am not being compensated for this review. I purchased Wen online last month, and I am writing my opinions of this product as it’s something I’ve been curious about trying for a long time. If you decide to try Wen, you can order it from Wen.com. Or, buy Wen at Sephora or order it online. Or, buy it online from QVC.

---

Note: In July 2013, I began reviewing Wen with week-by-week updates for my blog readers. Here are quick links to my reviews & updates:
Wen Week #1 | Wen Week #2 | Wen Week #3 | Wen Weeks #4 and #5 | Wen 6-month update | Wen 1-year update
At present, I continue to use Wen regularly.